Not your fault
by AlexHa
Summary: Neal's trapped in a strait jacket, hold in a cell and searching for an escape. Then someone appears...What is the story behind this? What happened to Neal? Rated M for upcoming slash/hurt/whump!. WARNING: might include slavery. Thx for reading!
1. Chapter 1

Hey there!  
Woow so this is it. My very first fic. Uh, I'm excited ^^. So this story just crossed my mind as I was watching the first season again (and part of the second) and somewhere Peter said something about a strait jacket I think.  
I'm not sure if I will continue with this story, so please review and tell me if I should so...thx! :D

_Italics_ are thoughts.

I do not own White Collar, the characters, and everything related to it (sigh). But I love it and I love all the stories you guys upload, so: thx!

Please notice, I'm not a native speaker, so all faults are mine... ^^

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Neal's head was spinning. He was lying at the floor of the tiny cell, trapped in a strait jacket. His feet had been restrained too, he was unable to move and the small room was too dark to see anything. Neal had no idea how long he'd been lying there. It could be days, it could be hours, it could be even weeks….he had lost any count.

_They must've misunderstood me. They're wrong. I didn't mean to. They…_

Neal's thoughts were running in circles. He wasn't even sure anymore why he had been placed here, tied up like that. It seemed like he had been given some kind of light drugs to keep him calm. But instead of keeping him calm he was near panicking as he couldn't keep his thoughts together.

_They're not coming back. They're letting me rot here. Nobody's coming…_

He tried to move. His heart rate speeding up but making no progress at all, he soon started mumbling into the air.

"Ya know, it would be rather poliiiite if ya'd lemme go to the bathroom. No bathing, but pissing. 'uman right, ya know. I'd claim it an emergencey. Jus' sayin'."

Neal started fidgeting again. After a long time he felt his left foot restraint going loose. He could slip it off! The other foot followed immediately. Oh, how good it felt to be finally moving, even if it were only the feet.

_Ok, now comes the difficult task. How do I get out of this strait jacket?_

The headache was returning, slowly sneaking it's way into Neal's thoughts. It hurt. A lot. But Neal thought it was a good thing. It meant that the drugs were finally loosing their impact. Soon his back was aching too, and the headache had turned into a throbbing pain. He had to get up from the floor, maybe in sitting position he could get out of the jacket. Without being able to see anything and a numb feeling in his legs, he finally managed sitting up and leaning against the cold wall. Slowly resting his head against it, he listened to any sounds coming from outside the cell. There was the flickering of a lamp, the sough of the wind, and – to his surprise - the voice of some men talking. But they seemed too far away. Neal couldn't understand a word. What surprised him was that there were voices at all. For the whole time he'd been locked up here, he hadn't heard a single human noise. Now there were voices, actually talking!

_Maybe…maybe he's coming…! _

Neal didn't allow himself that thought.

_No, Caffrey, you're stupid, why would he be here. You're a pain in the ass, he told you that himself. Cowboy up and stop being such a girl. Focus on getting out of here._

He struggled against the jacket and tried to free his arms, maybe ripping the arms of the jacket off. Soon he was breathing heavily, hair wet from sweating, and the jacket was still intact. Pausing for a short moment, he heard the voices suddenly come closer. Neal felt sick. What would they do to him if they found him like that, sitting upright against the wall and out of his foot restraints?

_There must be a camera inside here, why else would they come now, shortly after I finally managed changing his position? _

Now he could tell they were directly in front of his cell.

"Open."

There was the scratching of some keys against the metal door. A clicking sound. And suddenly, light. A lot of light.

_It has to be day, then._

Neal was desperate now.

"Hey! What are you – Warden, why is he wearing a strait jacket!" a man yelled. The warden – that had to be the one with the keys – didn't answer at first."I asked why he is wearing a strait jacket! And there are additional restraints on the floor! I told you to keep him secure, didn't I? Secure, not…"

_Oh, that is one angry man_ Neal thought. He had his eyes closed as the light hurt too much and stopped listening to the yelling man. The yelling hurt too.

"Needed…bathroom…urgent." he finally managed to say. He felt both men staring at him.

"What?" That was the Warden.

"Ya know, pissing n stuff."

Neal suddenly felt nauseous. He could hear himself slurring slightly. He wanted them to leave, so he could finish his attempts of freeing himself.

"What is he talking about?" the first man asked, sounding confused and…upset?

_Why would he be upset? Maybe he thinks that I am not worth a bathroom. Yes, it has to be this._

"Hey, lis'n guuuuys….jus' leave ok? Need to get outa this niiiice jacket." The drugs obviously hadn't worn off.

"You! Get me medical staff here ASAP! No, no comments, no excuses, just do it!" the first man yelled. All the yelling made Neal even more confused. He was glad he wasn't already back in the foot restraints, but he didn't get it why the man was acting the way he was. Neal heard fast footsteps disappear, and then he suddenly felt a big cold hand on his forehead. He flinched visibly and tried to avoid the hand but with his head against the wall and his arms fixed in the strait jacket, he couldn't do much about this.

"Hey, calm down. It's ok. Calm down!"

Neal started twisting. "No, please. Please, no. Not now. I'll…I'll do any – anything nex' time, I swear. Anything! If you jus' leave me now. Please!" Neal was begging. He was squirming and sweating and looking very pale. The man grabbed him on his shoulders. "Neal, it's ok. It's me buddy. It's Peter. Remember?" Neal seemed not to hear anything. He continued begging. "Please, lemme go. I've…I'll…Please! I can give you wha'ever you wan'! Please…please…" He seemed drifting off.

Peter let go of him and turned to look where the warden had disappeared. "Damnit, when are they here?" He turned to Neal, who was trying to crawl into the corner of the small cell but as his arms were fixed, he instead fell right onto his face. "Ouch." he mumbeled. Peter hurried over to him and grabbed his shoulders to pull him up. "NOOOOOO!" Neal screamed. It made Peter jump right back and let him fall onto his face again.

"Jesus, Neal!" Peter stared at the man lying in front of him. He was shaking and sweating and still had his eyes shut completely. His skin seemed even paler than moments before, and his nose was bleeding from falling onto it twice. Peter approached Neal slowly and cautious. "Neal, can you hear me?" he asked gently. No reaction.

"Neal. It's Peter. I'm not here to harm you. I will help you. Do you understand?" Still no reaction except for the shaking that increased slightly. Now Peter really was worried. He was going to kill that son of a bitch who had let this happen! He once more turned and stared through the empty hallway. "Oooooh." Neal groaned behind. His legs were now lying unmoved on the floor.

"It's ya fault Caffrey. Aaaall ya fault! I didn't – Peter! - let him not down, not! Yes, Caffrey, ya did!" Neal babbled. He seemed to be talking to himself!

Peter frowned. This didn't make sense! What was Caffrey talking about?

"Neal, buddy, I need you to listen to me. You didn't do anything wrong, all right? You did great! And now I'm here – it's Peter, buddy – and I won't let anything happen to you. Promise!" He gently laid his hand on Neal's forehead. He was too warm. But this time, Neal didn't move away. He only flinched slightly and then let an exhausted sigh out. Neal leaned into the touch - only a hint of pressure - but it was enough for Peter to see that he finally got through.

"I got you, Neal, I got you…" Peter tried to comfort him. As soon as he tried to move nearer though, Neal started breathing heavily and open and close his mouth as if he was about telling something but had not enough air to do so. So Peter let it be and just stood there, hunched over the thin man in an orange jumpsuit and his hand resting against his forehead.

"You're gonna be ok, Neal. I'll fix this. I promise…" he whispered.

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Ok, let me know what you think! And thanks sooo much for reading! :D

PS: omg can't wait seeing (and hearing!) Matt on Glee tonight! xD


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_At HQ – 1 year earlier_

"Come on! Just lemme grab some coffee! I won't be gone long - look, 5 minutes! 10 at the most!"

Peter smiled. Neal could be so annoying when he had to stay put and do his work. But he had to admit that this case was giving him a serious headache even without Neal begging and whining for letting him out a few minutes.

"I said no." He watched the frown on Neal's face.

"Ok then. How about I grab a sandwich for you on my way? You know, the ones from the shop with the dirty toilets?" Neal was now fiddling with his hat and bouncing in the chair. "You know what I'm talking about, right?"

Peter sighed. "Yes, I do know that you are talking about a deviled ham sandwich, and no, I'm not letting you go. End of discussion."

Neal didn't smile anymore. He seemed to have changed tactics, and went for the pouting instead.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt you to be nice at least once in a month, Peter. Seriously, I have done everything you requested, why won't you let me go on a coffee run? On rainy days you even force me to do them!" Neal rose from the chair. "Know what? Never mind. I knew you were mean from the beginning."

He turned to leave, but Peter, admitting his defeat sighed and rose too. "Neal."

Neal stopped but didn't turn. "I really could use a coffee myself now. What do you think?"

Peter already had grabbed his wallet while Neal remained still.

"Come on, let's go."

He took Neal by his elbow and steered him into the bullpen. "Don't forget your wallet, I'm not gonna pay for you. Clear?" Neal grinned at him. "Crystal."

_Another won round for the ever annoying Neal Caffrey_, Peter thought but smiled.

* * *

Peter watched Neal getting coffee and returning to their table. "Here you go, Big Brother." Neal said playfully.

"Shut up, Caffrey." Peter grinned. "What do I owe you?"

"Nah, Peter! You're invited!" Neal said with his dazzling smile.

That made Peter suspicious. Neal was a generous guy, but this smile…it always meant trouble for Peter.

"You paid those, right?" He pointed at the two steaming cups of coffee.

"I did, Peter. I even let a tip." Neal raised an eyebrow, no doubt to underline his statement.

"Alright, then. Thank you." Peter murmured, and they started talking about their latest case.

It wasn't – for Neal's sake – another mortgage fraud, but it didn't catch his interest at general. Neal loved the art cases, the forgery cases, but the other, he wasn't interested in. Not fully.

"So, this guy…we don't even have an alias? Nothing?"

"Nope. He's slippery. But I don't believe that he's the brain of this whole story. No, there's someone pulling the strings. But I don't know either how we could find out who it is without even an alias to start."

Peter looked tired and a little worn out. He seemed to have worked a lot the last few days but Neal didn't know why. They hadn't had any case at all, so they all were looking through cold cases, until this one came up. So Peter should be rested and motivated. But he was grumpy instead.

Neal didn't like it. He decided to give it a shot.

"Hey Peter."

"Mh?"

"Ah…everything alright? At home? With Elizabeth, I mean?"

Peter shot him a glance. Neal was intently studying his mug.

_Poor Neal, he's not sure this is a topic he's supposed to concern_. Peter smirked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. But thanks for asking, anyway. Appreciate the concern."

Neal looked up and this look in those stunning blue eyes nearly broke Peter's heart right then.

"Really? I mean…" He was at loss for words once. "You don't mind me…taking interest in…er…you?" Neal shrugged, unhappy with his poor choice of words.

"I mean – I just wondered – well at work, we didn't have much to do and you seem tired and I – "

"Neal, Neal. No, I don't mind and I'm happy to have you as my partner and my friend, and you are allowed to be interested in what's going on. That is no crime, you know." Peter winked at him. "Come on, buddy, let's get back to work."

They rose from the table and went back to the HQ for another day of solve a puzzle of bits and pieces of information on their newest case.


End file.
